The giant leap on to Bus 25

Published 6:54 pm, Friday, September 4, 2015

From the pavement of Edgewood Road in Fairfield to the first stair of Bus 25 is a span of only a foot or so, one small step for a child, but one giant leap for childkind.

Particularly on the first day of kindergarten. Talk about the first day of the rest of your life.

Madison Cano, our delightful little next door neighbor, and Ryan Dorney, just down and across the street, like thousands of little kids around the region, made that leap the other morning, out of the nest they’ve been living in the last five years, and onto the tightrope of the real world.

The first day of kindergarten. Oh, the angst, the gut-churning swirl of apprehension and excitement, the clenched fists, the tears, the tissues, the frantic glances.

Oh, well, that’s how mothers are.

At our neighborhood stop, at least, the bus boarding went swimmingly for the kids. They lined up at the door, rookies Madison and Ryan in front, behind them the more seasoned, first and second graders, with Sacha Kerner and Paige Dorney, world-weary veteran third-graders, bringing up the rear. The children sat. They looked out the windows. Window after window of faces with only eyes and foreheads. The parents went into action, waving, flashing signals, fist pumps, like third-base coaches flashing signals to assorted batters.

And off Bus 25 went, hurtling them all to a new world.

As any parent of school-aged children knows, the first day of school is the true New Year’s Day. It’s the gong that rings — whatever the date — signaling that summer is over and the plays, games, parents’ nights, bake sales, PTA meetings, homework, etc., are on the way.

Our “first day of kindergarten, high school, college” days are over, but the long-suffering Mrs. Daly and I went to Eli Whitney School in Stratford on Friday for the experience with two of our grandsons, Andrew — first day of kindergarten — and James — second day of second grade. Andrew was chomping at the bit. James, well, less so.

In front of the school, in the minutes before the bell rang and the doors opened, there was the nervous energy of the racetrack, when the horses — some balking, some eager — are being coaxed into the stalls of the starting gate.

The kids, their new backpacks strapped on, their sneakers resplendent, milled about. Some were positively gleeful, high-fiving friends and teachers; others looked like they’d been sentenced to a chain gang.

Looking at this varied group — one kid reminded me of the Olympic torch, the tips of hair on the top of his head a blazing red — I was reminded of how much we ask of teachers as well as how influential they are. It was around 8:30 Friday morning, and for the next nine months, give or take, they have our children for most of the day.

This is not tea with the Queen.

Anyway, I know the kids on Edgewood Road in Fairfield were off to a good, safe school. And that the aspirations their parents have for them will be well served.

In many years of traipsing around Bridgeport as a reporter, I also know that the aspirations of parents in Bridgeport sending their children out into the world and into the educational process on the first day of kindergarten are exactly the same.

And on the first day of kindergarten, all these little kids are essentially the same. They’re five years old. They don’t know exactly what’s going on, but they know something interesting is going to unfold. I don’t know what five-year-olds these days dream about being, but I know they dream about being something. And that’s all that’s really important.

Somewhere along the road, though, it’s more likely that the kids in Bridgeport are going to start hitting bumps, whether it’s at home, in the neighborhood or at school. And that’s when paths start to diverge and dreams start to dissolve. And that’s bad for all of us.

Oh, it’s complicated, and I don’t have the answer. Other than suggesting the adults entrusted with getting these little citizens off on the right foot pay more attention to doing that, than to settling political scores.

So, here’s to Bus 25 and all the others carrying very important cargo.